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Recommendations based on Noah's Compassby Anne Tyler
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Ladder of Years
by Anne Tyler
A woman's quest to find herself after leaving her family behind and embarking on a new life.
Married with three almost-grown children, Delia Grinstead has vanished without trace or reason. But for Delia, walking away from it all is an impulse that will lead her into a new, exciting, and ... (Goodreads)
Saint Maybe
by Anne Tyler
A man's journey of atonement, struggling to make amends for his past mistakes.
Tyler's plot explores the ways ordinary people react to disastrous events with quietly heroic behavior. When seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe confronts his older brother Danny with his belief that the ... (Wikipedia)
Breathing Lessons
by Anne Tyler
A couple's journey of self-discovery over the course of one day.
The story describes the joys and pains of the ordinary marriage of Ira and Maggie Moran as they travel from Baltimore to attend a funeral and back home again in one day. It also examines Maggie's ... (Wikipedia)
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
by Carol Rifka Brunt
A young girl's journey of grief and healing as she discovers the secrets of her beloved uncle's life.
June Elbus is a 14-year-old girl living in Westchester in 1986. She is in love with her gay uncle, Finn Weiss, a fact she is scared to admit even to herself. Finn is dying of AIDS. Being a ... (Wikipedia)
One True Thing
by Anna Quindlen
A woman learns about love and loss, grappling with the realities of life and death.
Ellen Gulden has a high-pressure job writing for, New York, magazine . Ellen is visiting her family home for her father's surprise birthday party. It becomes obvious that she deeply admires her ... (Wikipedia)
Every Last One
by Anna Quindlen
A family's search for resilience as they face tragedy and unexpected struggles.
The latest novel from Pulitzer Prize-winner Anna Quindlen In this breathtaking and beautiful novel, the #1 New York Times" bestselling author Anna Quindlen creates an unforgettable portrait of a ... (Goodreads)
The Light Between Oceans
by M.L. Stedman
A lighthouse keeper and his wife make a heartbreaking decision that has lifelong repercussions.
Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found, here, Australia, 1926. After four harrowing years fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns home to take a job as the lighthouse ... (Goodreads)
Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
A young boy struggles to find his place in a new town, but with the help of a kind librarian and John James Audubon's illustrations, he discovers his own talents and strengths.
Douglas "Doug" Swieteck is a fourteen-year-old boy living somewhere on Long Island in 1968 during the Vietnam War . After Doug's dad is fired for mouthing off to his boss, the Swietecks move to the ... (Wikipedia)
Please Look After Mom
by Shin Kyung-sook
A family's journey of grief and healing following the disappearance of their mother.
When sixty-nine-year-old So-Nyo is separated from her husband among the crowds of the Seoul subway station , her family begins a desperate search to find her. Yet as long-held secrets and private ... (Wikipedia)
The Wrong Side of Goodbye
by Michael Connelly
A retired detective is hired to investigate a mysterious case, uncovering secrets from the past.
This novel finds semi-retired Harry Bosch alternating between two investigations. As a private detective he is summoned by billionaire industrialist Whitney Vance. The elderly, never-married Vance ... (Wikipedia)
A Change in Altitude
by Anita Shreve
A newlywed couple's trek in the Himalayas takes a tragic turn, testing their relationship and revealing secrets.
Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she ... (Goodreads)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
by Jonathan Safran Foer
A young boy's quest to find the lock that matches a mysterious key his father left behind.
Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and ... (Goodreads)
State of Wonder
by Ann Patchett
A journey in the Amazon rainforest to find a missing colleague and unlock the secrets of a mysterious drug.
In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, "State of Wonder" presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional ... (Goodreads)
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901
by Nancy E. Turner
A young woman's struggle for independence, chronicles her journey through the American Southwest.
“Belongs on your must-read list. This novel is a gem.” — Omaha World-Herald Nancy E. Turner's unforgettable, These Is My Words, melds the sweeping adventures and dramatic landscapes of, Lonesome ... (Barnes & Noble)
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
by Fredrik Backman
An imaginative quest to uncover the truth behind a beloved grandmother's mysterious stories.
The story takes place in Sweden and follows Elsa, a 7-year-old who knows she is different from other children her age. Elsa has a habit of correcting others' grammar, she is smart for her age, and is ... (Wikipedia)
Eye of the Needle
by Ken Follett
A thrilling tale of espionage and wartime romance, set in the chaos of WWII.
In 1940, Henry Faber, a German spy nicknamed 'die Nadel' ('The Needle') due to his trademark weapon being a stiletto , is working at a London railway depot, collecting information on troop movements. ... (Wikipedia)
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford
A touching story of the intersection of love, family, and culture during World War II.
Henry Lee, the son of Chinese parents in Seattle , Washington, is the only Asian child at his elementary school. His father makes him wear an "I Am Chinese" button so he will not be mistaken for a ... (Wikipedia)
44 Charles Street
by Danielle Steel
A woman inherits a charming but dilapidated house in Boston and decides to renovate it, bringing together a group of strangers who become like family.
A magical transformation takes place in Danielle Steel’s luminous new novel: strangers become roommates, roommates become friends, and friends become a family in a turn-of-the-century house in ... (Goodreads)
My Ántonia
by Willa Cather
A young man's reminiscences of his childhood in rural Nebraska, and of his friendships with the immigrants he met there.
Orphaned Jim Burden rides the trains from Virginia to Black Hawk, Nebraska, where he will live with his paternal grandparents. Jake, a farmhand from Virginia, rides with the 10-year-old boy. On the ... (Wikipedia)
The Cookbook Collector
by Allegra Goodman
Two sisters navigate love, work, and life in the early days of the dot-com boom, one running a bookstore and the other a startup.
Heralded as “a modern day Jane Austen” by USA Today , National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Allegra Goodman has compelled and delighted hundreds of thousands of readers. ... (Goodreads)
Body Surfing
by Anita Shreve
A woman's life is changed when she becomes involved with a family during their summer vacation. Love, loss, and self-discovery ensue.
At the age of 29, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed. Trying to regain her footing once again, she has answered an ad to tutor the teenage daughter of a well-to-do couple as they ... (Barnes & Noble)
Go Set a Watchman
by Harper Lee
Confronting the past and present, a woman struggles to reconcile her beliefs with those of her hometown.
Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, a single 26-year-old, returns from New York to her hometown, Maycomb, Alabama, for her annual fortnight-long visit to her father Atticus, a lawyer and former state ... (Wikipedia)
The Invention of Wings
by Sue Monk Kidd
A powerful story about a girl's journey to freedom, despite the limitations of slavery.
Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now ... (Goodreads)
Three Things About Elsie
by Joanna Cannon
A poignant tale of an elderly woman's memories and secrets, as she navigates the challenges of aging and friendship.
There are three things you should know about Elsie. The first thing is that she’s my best friend. The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better. And the third thing… might ... (Goodreads)
The Senator's Wife
by Sue Miller
A story of two women, one married to a senator and the other her neighbor, whose lives become intertwined in unexpected ways.
Once again Sue Miller takes us deep into the private lives of women with this mesmerizing portrait of two marriages exposed in all their shame and imperfection, and in their obdurate, unyielding ... (Goodreads)
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man
by Fannie Flagg
A coming-of-age story of Daisy Fay, a young girl growing up in Mississippi during the 1950s, and her encounters with a charismatic con man.
Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man is told in diary writings starting in 1952 when the protagonist , Daisy Fay Harper, is 11 years old. She lives with her mother and her father in Jackson, Mississippi . ... (Wikipedia)
Maids of Misfortune
by M. Louisa Locke
In Victorian San Francisco, a boardinghouse owner becomes an amateur detective to solve a murder mystery.
It’s the summer of 1879, and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, is in trouble. Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is ... (Goodreads)
Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
A sweeping journey of two twin brothers and their search for identity, belonging and family.
The story is told by the protagonist, Marion Stone. He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa , in ... (Wikipedia)
Stella Bain
by Anita Shreve
A woman suffering from amnesia during World War I struggles to uncover her identity and past.
An epic story, set against the backdrop of World War I, from bestselling author Anita Shreve. When an American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe shell shock in an exclusive garden in ... (Goodreads)
Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
A woman lives multiple lives, reflecting on choices and consequences and the power of love.
The novel has an unusual structure, repeatedly looping back in time to describe alternative possible lives for its central character, Ursula Todd, who is born on 11 February 1910 to an ... (Wikipedia)
